SimCity DS

SimCity is a game viewed by many (mainly city planners) as 'taking your work home with you'. But for the rest of us, it's an interesting puzzle game that combines creativity with business sensibilities.

At least that's what SimCity, SimCity 2, SimCity 3000 and SimCity 4 were. This is a huge step backwards. I have played mobile phone versions with better interaction than this pitiful mess of a game.

Graphics are ropey at best, with only two zoom levels: you can have 'minute' or 'pixelated'. As for the touch screen, forget about subtlety or finesse: hit the screen, and hope that the road or building lands near to where you wanted it. I spent more time demolishing missed targets then I did building the damn city.

And it's an awful shame, because I can see what they tried to do; they wanted to reinvent the wheel, go back to the original game and add in some clever extras.

If not for the appalling playability due to dodgy touch screen commands, this would have been another solid Sims title. Instead, we get a bug-riddled mess that is not even worth picking up.